A VINTAGE CHRISTMAS!

There are some images that can make a great Vintage image! You just know when you see them. Even with bright
and vibrant colors I know when an image can be turned into something with a vintage feeling and look.
Here are some images with a before and after vintage look:

I achieve this look with some actions I have in Photoshop but mostly with filters and textures, some I've created and some I've purchased. Try a few of your own images, it's lots of fun!! :)

FINALLY TOOK THE PLUNGE!!

I have always wanted a vintage mannequin(dress form). For the last few months I finally decided to look for one on Ebay, Etsy and various online stores to find the best one! Each one I loved was too expensive ($500.00 to $750.00) or they would not ship to Canada.

So last Sunday I took the plunge and bought a brand new dress form that I found on ebay!
It cost me $189.00 USD+ shipping and within 4 days(Thursday) I received my beloved dress form at 2:30 PM in the afternoon, LOL!! It cost me a total of about $300.00 CAD and I think I did a great deal!
When purchasing the the new form I decided to antique and distress it to look like a vintage mannequin.
I plan to use it a lot and have many ideas for this in the future. Thursday night the transformation happened, LOL!!
This is how it looked when purchased.

I brewed a big pot of strong coffee(the aroma was fantastic in my studio) and painted the dress form with a natural bristle brush (acrylic bristle will curl from the hot coffee)...don`t be afraid to wet the form thoroughly.

After I saturated it with coffee I let it dry a little and then began the distressing with a dry brush and a little acrylic paint. I antiqued the stand, skirt cage and finial with some burnt umber, antique bronze and gold.
It took about  three hours to finish and I think it turned out fantastic!!

The next day I took some test shots and here are the final images with my fabulous Vintage dress form.Of course Photoshop helped a little with the final process. I added a couple of vintage textures and voila!I actually like the before image just as much as the vintage one.

Here are some other images from the same series!

Images are available for download at Shutterstock.com, Fotolia.com and Dreamstime.com.

There are more links located on left side.

SOME MORE BEFORE AND AFTER WORK!

Recently I went through some of my older photos taken 2 or 3 years ago to edit a few that I thought deserved to be finished and prepared for sale. The reason being is that I'm about to buy the Canon 5D Mark ll next month. I know once I have that camera I'll never go back to some of the earlier photos taken with my Canon 30D so lately I've been editing quite a few images from earlier cameras.
I've actually found quite a few I love but it's too bad because there are hundreds that will never see the light of day just because today's buyer is looking for the highest resolution possible and so for me it's better to be a head of the game if I can!
Anyway here are a few before and after photos I've prepared for sale lately. Even the dullest photos
sometimes can be gems!!

These images are available for download at Shutterstock.com, Fotolia.com and Dreamstime.com
There are more links located on left side.